In my Window
by Johnny Evelyn
Summary: She had known him her whole life and had a part in making him into the monster he is today, and she doesn't think she will ever atone for it. Riddick had always come back to her no matter what, she was the only person he considered a friend but can he love her? OCRiddick. Read and Review **I HAVE CHANGED UP THIS STORY FROM WHAT IT WAS 7 YEARS AGO**
1. Chapter 1

I must disclaim that I own not one thing that seems familiar to you, I only own Jo and the imaginary apartment that I want one day.

*Sings* Cha cha cha changes! Cha cha Change cha change cha cha cha changes!

So I wrote this story, almost 7 years ago. And then I left it, well I recently went back and re-read it and... well you ever have that moment where you're like woah I was not as good a writer as I thought. I mean I definitely switched from third person to first in the middle of the story so I have gone through made some changes fixed as many awful grammar and spelling errors as I could.

So if you've got this on ALERT I hope you enjoy re-reading it with the changes, if you're new to this story I hope you like it. I will be sticking up several chapters at once.

* * *

She stepped out of the bar and wrapped her long, silver jacket around her. Once again she had gone to work and forgotten to bring spare clothes which in her line was not a good thing, but she made do. She was a dancer, exotic, at the local night club Rave. She was one of the top acts thanks to her limber body. She had been an excellent ballerina; funny how things had turned out. She held the coat tight so no prying eyes could see her red flame bra with fuzzy black panties on top of her fish net hose. She always felt sexy in her outfit, but it was for her and only those willing to dish out the money to see, she wasn't up for any free rides. It was wet outside must have rained all night and there was still a light drizzle. She turned the corner to her apartments. She had made it with no mishaps yet, maybe this would be a good night. _Ahh_ finally made it to loft apartment 2545, the shabby rundowns of Josi Parker. It was an ok living condition the apartment was big and it was pretty much tucked away, so she rarely had unwanted visitors. Tonight was going to be different.

Jo had just put her bag down when she heard a soft thunk come from somewhere outside. She grabbed her 9 mil from the drawer where she kept it. She had it raised in front of her as she walked toward her windows, the ones that led to the fire escape. She opened up one window, and a large hulking figure in a cloak appeared in front of her. She put both hands on her gun; finger on the trigger then the hood of the cloak fell back. She stepped back and lowered her gun.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Well well well Riddick, what can I do for you?"

Richard B. Riddick crawled through the window; lucky for him she had finally gotten some bigger windows. He would have crawled through anyway even if it meant breaking down a frame. "Hello Jo, I see you still have your gun"

"I would never get rid of her, an old friend gave it too me" She patted the gun proudly and winked at him. "She protects me; anyways I thought you were long gone."

"I was around the system and I thought I'd drop by see a friend, get in touch. That was a nice outfit by the way; good to see your ballet skills aren't going to waste, well not in a sense."

"You were at the club" Riddick nodded. "Well good to know you liked it. Are you staying the night or just a quick eat and run?"

"If you have an extra bed I'll stay"

"I have a couch, now come on you smell horrible"

"The couch Jo, cmon you can't have become shy after all these years"

"You left boy, that demotes you to the couch, now take a bath or you're getting the floor" She knew Riddick hated being called boy. He had hated it when they were kids and he was a boy and he hated it even more now. He glared at her then followed her.

She led him to her bathroom where she had a pretty large tub; it was the one thing she had splurged on when she had moved. Her tub was 3ft deep, and was built so you could lean back and soak. She turned on the hot water and let Riddick change and get in. Once he was in she came back with a bar of soap. She was about to leave when he grabbed her hand, gently but enough so she wouldn't get away.

"You gonna join me Jo it'd be a shame to waste this much space, and you always were the one wanting to conserve water."

Jo took a moment to think it over, she hadn't seen Riddick in a long time, they had grown up together; she had been there when he had first killed, but she'd never seen him as a killer just someone who'd always done what they had to, to survive. She hadn't seen him since some of his more seedy accusations, but her mind told her _what the hell he's still your Riddick_.

"I'll come in only if it's a bubble bath" Riddick agreed so she grabbed some of her vanilla bubble wash and poured a generous amount in the tub, soon the bubbles had covered the surface of the water. She stood in front of the tub and decided to give Riddick a show. She slowly pulled her panties down her legs, stepped out of them and then rolled her fishnets down after them. She stood up straight and turned around showing off her toned ass, she heard Riddick give a small growl. She undid the clasp to her bra and tossed it to the side, and then she undid her bobby pins and let her long brown hair fall around her back. She turned back around and headed slowly to the tub. She made Riddick lean forward and she slid in behind him.

"You comfortable?" She asked in a breathy tone. Riddick slid down a few inches and rested his head between her breasts.

"Extremely"

Jo took her wash clothes and lathered it with soap, then she began rubbing down Riddick's torso. She stroked the cloth over each peck and around his nipples. She went lower and moved back and forth across his abdomen, she loved the feel of his six-pack underneath her fingers. She dropped the cloth and traced the lines of his muscles with her nails. He had begun to rub his hands along her thighs and was moving his thumbs around the sides of her knees. He squeezed her knees suddenly, when he felt small fingers stroking down the length of his penis. He couldn't see her hands through the bubbles, but he could feel when she wrapped her palm around him and began to stroke up and down. Then Jo shifted around to the front and took one big breath, and was out of site under the bubbles. Riddick leaned back comfortably as he felt Jo take him all the way in. Jo pulled back and grazed Riddick with her teeth which caused him to harden more and grab the sides of the tubs. She swirled her tongue around the tip of his head, and then she felt her self being pulled out of the water. Riddick lifted her up and sat her down on his lap. She could feel his erection pressed between her legs. She wiped the water off her face and captured Riddicks lips with her own. He opened to her and their tongues dueled for power. She started moving her hands across his broad shoulders and down his firm back. Riddick placed his large hands around her small ass and began to knead the skin he found there. Jo let out a low groan and ran her finger nails down Riddicks torso he hissed in pleasure then lifted her by the waist so he could place kisses along her collar-bone. Then he slid down and took one perky nipple in his mouth as he massaged the other with one hand. He then switched mouth and hand and bit at her nipple. She gasped and grabbed the back of his neck. Riddick let his hand slide down to the v in her legs, where he inserted one finger causing her to arch her back and let out a long moan. He slipped in another finger and began to move the digits back and forth against her G spot, Jo began to slide up and down on his fingers, needing release. Riddick removed his fingers and quieted her protests by placing the tip of his distended cock at the front of her opening. Jo circled her hips around on top of him before sliding all the way down to the hilt. She threw her head back and moaned clutching on to Riddicks shoulders as she grew accustomed to his size. Riddick shut his eyes and began thrusting his hips up. He went slowly at first, and then he could feel Jo rocking against him. She tilted her head forward and placed her mouth by his ear.

She whispered a very small "harder" and Riddick did just that; he planted his feet at the curve of the tub and jerked his hips until he was almost lifting Jo out of the water. Bubbles and water splashed over the sides, Jo tried to grab the sides of the tub but her hands kept slipping, finally Riddick grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her back pulling her close to his chest. Jo was bucking against him as he kept hitting her sweet spot. Then on one good thrust, she stilled and her muscles clinched around Riddick, sending him over the edge as he came inside her. They both stilled and after the water had simmered to tiny ripples she lifted off of him and laid her head on his shoulder. Once Riddick had regained breathing, he lifted them both out of the tub, let the water begin to drain and carried Jo into her bedroom. Jo nuzzled at his throat as he carried her _maybe he wouldn't sleep on the couch after all_.


	2. Chapter 2

Next chapter! Woot.

* * *

Riddick laid Jo down and crawled on top of her and started suckling on the sensitive skin where her neck and shoulder met. She gave a contented sigh and tried to push him away since his breath was tickling her skin.

"Riddick, please it tickles" She pushed a little harder, but with each little giggle she gave off he just tried harder. His hands slid up and he squeezed the soft skin at her hips. She started bucking against him trying to free herself from his torturous hands. "No Riddick… ahhh… cut it out" She brought her hands up and accidentally hit him in the eye. He lifted up and put his hand to his eye in mock hurt. Jo wasn't fooled he was a cold-blooded killer and a little smack to the face wasn't going to phase him. "Oh no don't even play that with me. It's a dirty trick and a bad one at that." He smiled back at her; it was a gesture she had missed since their years as kids, when he was Richard that boy who kept running away from the orphanage. Riddick pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. He moved down her arm and back to her throat.

"I've missed you" He whispered it so low she hesitated before she said anything letting her brain register if she'd heard right.

"Same here"

"You shouldn't be a stripper" He looked at her now and his silver eyes pierced her to the soul and for a moment she actually considered giving up her job, but she sighed on this planet jobs were scarce and the pay wasn't worth the job. She managed to do alright with what she got from the club.

"Do you have an alternative?"

"No" He laid his head on her breast, and let his hand glide tenderly across her stomach.

"Riddick, I don't… give out favors…" She could see him tense up then relax on a sigh. "I'm purely a dancer. I just thought you might want to know that" Jo felt stupid for explaining herself to this man. He was going to leave her in a few hours anyway, why was she worrying. But it made her feel better to know that he knew. She laid her head back on her pillow and enjoyed the way Riddick's fingers danced across her skin, circling her belly button then running his knuckles along the underside of her breasts. She felt his head lift off her chest, as she looked down she was met again with those eyes, she nearly melted beneath them. Riddick pulled himself up to her mouth and kissed her. It was passionate, but not hurried. He slid his tongue along her lower lip; they parted with a sigh and let his tongue explore her mouth. His hand slid down her abdomen and he laid his hand flat right above her slit. He slid one finger down and into her already slippery folds. Jo arched her back up into his hand; he pushed in and out sliding in another finger to bring her closer to release. She bit at his lips and grabbed his biceps as her hips met with each thrust of his fingers. Riddick slid his lips away from her mouth and traced a slow path around her navel. He pulled his fingers out; Jo groaned at the loss of contact but Riddick made up for it has he pulled her legs over his shoulders and exhaled across her aching center. He slid his tongue across the insides of her thighs and then licked up and down the soft folds of her woman hood. He suckled at her clitoris and then probed his tongue inside of her, he reinserted his fingers pumping them in and out as his tongue continued to swirl around her nub. Jo scraped her nails over his shaved head needing something to clutch onto, she dug her toes into the sheets and clenched her teeth together to try and stop the wimpers and moans that were escaping. "Oh god Riddick, yes, there."

Riddick couldn't take it anymore, the way she was moving and the moans that were coming out of her mouth were threatening to send him over the edge. He pulled himself fully on top of her then settled his weight in between her thighs; he gave her one fierce kiss before driving fully into her. Jo bit down on his bottom lip and wrapped her legs around his hips pulling him in deeper. He moaned when he felt her begin to move. He thrust madly against her needing to feel her clench down on him; he kissed at her neck and then bit down hard, breaking the skin and drawing blood. It sent Jo over the edge she dug her nails into his buttocks and let out a yell as she tumbled over the edge. Riddick fell just after her snapping his hips into her then going still. When they regained feeling in their limbs he rolled to the side and fell asleep next to her, but not with her, never with her.

They slept for a bit but dawn was approaching so Jo gave Riddick a few credit chips and let him sneak back down her fire escape before waving goodbye as his dark figure blended in with the shadows. She let out a sigh and went back to her bed; she lay down and had a restful sleep.

* * *

Several weeks later Jo was in her dressing room at work. It had been a terrible night at the club; a group of what she guessed to be mercs were making a huge mess of the place. She had finally finished her dance and gone backstage, she was sitting down with her leg stuck straight up rubbing some muscle relaxer on her calf when her friend Missy walked up to her and sat on her counter in front of her mirror.

"So fun night tonight" Missy nudged Jo's foot with her shoulder.

"Oh yeah a fucking party what with those damned mercs breaking shit everywhere" She scoffed while rolling her eyes.

"Yeah they were a bit rowdy, but their boss is nice. He invited me to go home with him, and he's not bad-looking either"

"I wouldn't do it; mercs are pigs and you can't trust them"

"Oh cmon… this guy seemed ok"

"Yeah right. What's his name?"

"William J. Johns"

"Sounds like a pussy"

Jo stood up and put the relaxer back in her locker, picked up her cred chips and headed to the door. She gave Missy a peck on the cheek, before she left. "Hey I'm gonna have my phone on, I want you to call me if anything happens. If you need to run you know where the safe houses are, run to Pacho or Diva. They'll help you until I get there."

"Yes mommy I'll be good"

"If all goes well come by my flat in the morning so you can tell me how terrible a merc is"

"See you in the morning then"

Jo waved and walked out the door to her home.

* * *

Jo threw her bag by the front door and headed to the kitchen, she pulled out a pot and some ramen noodles, she let the water and noodles start to boil. She sat on her old beaten couch, and flipped on the TV, the news cortex was buzzing. She listened to a few weather reports then the good stuff came on. She heard the newscaster drone out a speech…

"Escaped convict Richard B. Riddick, has been lost once again. He was being detained at Butcher Bay Prison when he mysteriously escaped. The head guard could not be reached for comment. All systems are alerted to look out for the convict as he is armed and highly dangerous, do not attempt to apprehend. Bounty Hunters have been dispatched to find him and bring him back."

Jo scoffed, "Huh fuckin Mercs" The newscaster started on a new story and she flipped off the screen. She went back over to her ramen and poured it into a bowl, just then her phone rang she went over and picked it up.

"Hello"

"Hey Jo its Pacho, you need to get down here and fast"

"I'm coming"

Jo ran to out the door leaving her ramen on the counter behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Jo ran up the alley and down the steps into the basement of an old bar her friend Pacho owned. When she got inside she saw Missy lying on a cot in the corner, Diva was already there wiping her forehead with a damp rag. She had dark bruises around one eye, a hand print on her neck and some nasty bruises to her thighs. Jo ran over to her friend and grabbed her hand.

"Missy what happened?"

Missy took in a ragged breath "I went to the apartment number William gave me, but he wasn't there it was all his friends. They took turns hitting me until I passed out, I woke up while some guy was raping me and there was no one else in the room so I grabbed my stiletto and put it in his temple. I… I killed him Jo, I really didn't want to but…"

"Shh, I know its ok he was scum and he deserved it, trust me I will get them"

"No Jo they're dangerous"

"Shh, Don't worry I have an idea"

She talked with Pacho and Diva making sure they could help Missy and keep her safe.

"Jo I don't think this is a good idea" Pacho glanced back at Missy who had mercifully fallen asleep.

Diva his boyfriend came over still in her drag outfit from earlier and clutched Jo's hand. "Jo just call the police, ok. Let them handle it"

"The police!?" She said incredulously "You know how useful they are, they're more likely to lock up Missy for prostitution than to go after the damn mercs. No I'm taking care of this myself and that's it. I won't let another friend down."

"Please be careful, you don't have to redeem yourself by doing this. You didn't put the cuffs on Ri…" Jo put her finger to Diva's lips.

"Don't; just don't"

"I'm just saying, it wasn't your fault"

"Yea right" and then she grabbed her bag and headed to the apartment number Missy had given her.

It wasn't far from her own home so she stopped by to grab her 9 mil. Soon she was to the door of the mercs place and began knocking, finally an ugly man with pock marks all over his face opened the door and gave her body a once over before asking her what she wanted. Since they were still there she figured they hadn't really cared much about the guy Missy killed, it was one less person they had to split the bounty with. _Mercs _they were all the same greed was the name of the game.

"Someone called from this apartment said they wanted some entertainment" Jo had put one of her best outfits from the club before coming over so she flashed the merc some of her outfit.

"Please come on in"

There were only three of them now and she supposed one of them was Johns. She stood in the middle of the room while they all sat on the couch, _good easier to take them down_ she thought. She slowly undid her jacket and quickly removed her 9 mil and put one bullet into each of their foreheads before they even had a chance to react. She praised her good thought for always going to the gun range to keep her aim accurate. She didn't think she have anymore trouble so she ran to grab the cash in their wallets and was pulling out the last guys money when she heard the door open. She stood stunned for a second just staring at the man who came in while he took in the scene, Jo made a dash for the window and fire escape, but the merc was faster, he grabbed her arms and pinned them around her and pulled her back against his chest. Jo kicked and struggled but it was no use, he was way stronger than she was, and he had her pinned so tightly she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp. He put his mouth close to her ear…

"Where the hell do you think your going? And why the hell are you here in the first place?"

"You raped my friend"

"You mean that stripper from the night club; I never laid a hand on her."

"You gave her to the pigs that would"

"Well you seemed to have taken care of them now haven't you, but that means you're a murderer, so why don't we go talk to a judge. I'll fetch a pretty price for bringing you in"

…..

The local judge ruled that Jo was acting as a vigilante and should have come to the police first, but Jo knew the police didn't know how to do shit on this planet. So she took her sentence life in jail and left it at that. She felt no guilt at killing those mercs and she figured prison wouldn't be much different from the life she was living day in and day out now. _I'll miss my tub_. John's "volunteered" to take her to the max security prison he was heading to, to drop off another prisoner. He loaded her on some ship called the Hunter-Gratzner. Johns didn't tell her who she was going to be locked up with, but he told her it would be an interesting ride.

She had her hands cuffed in front of her and was being pushed up the loading ramp in the back of the ship. Johns pushed her roughly between her shoulder blades.

"Move it"

"Fuck you asshole!"

"Maybe later, now get on that transport"

She was taken to the back of the holding cells, she was facing the ground and Johns mouth came close to her head.

"Here's your traveling partner"

Jo looked up and gasped "Riddick"

"Oh so you know him"

She didn't want Johns to know anything about her so she blurted out "I… I've seen him on TV before"

"So has everybody else, now get in"

Jo was pushed up against Riddick her chest to his, her hands were cuffed to links on either side of his torso, and her feet were shackled to the ground. Johns hooked up the cryo-sleep to her arm, and said they'd be taking off in thirty minutes. Then he shut the door. Jo looked up at the blindfolded face in front of her.

"Hey Riddick"

…..

He barely moved, but he knew that voice _what the hell had she done to get in here?_ He could barely speak around the bit in his mouth.

"Josi what are you doing here?" It came out clipped, but Jo picked up on it.

"I killed some mercs who raped Missy, my friend from the club"

Riddick tensed "You should have let it go"

"You of all people are going to tell me that, she was my best friend!" she spit through clenched teeth. "I'd do it again if I had to."

"Where is Johns taking you?"

"I don't know wherever you're going or he's going to keep as a pet I'm not sure"

"No he won't"

"Are you going to stop him, from the looks of it you haven't yet"

He growled low in his chest "He's actually helping me; his odds of a better payday are greater at Ursa Luna, so we have to go a long way to go. More time to escape. He could have sent me back to Butcher Bay, but mercs are all the same. Money"

"Well that's wonderful, really I'm proud. Now please stop talking I'm tired"

She leaned her head against his shoulders, but he pushed her off.

"What the hell was that about?"

"If Johns thinks you know me well, there will always be mercs after you"

"Riddick, I'm going to prison for life and there is no way I could break myself out so really there is no need for me to worry about mercs, now shut up and let me go to sleep please."

She put her head back down again and this time he didn't move, she sighed and closed her eyes. A few minutes later they were taking off and she was put into cryo-sleep. She knew in the back of her mind Riddick wouldn't go to sleep. He had told her once that all of you goes into sleep in cryo-sleep all except the animal side. Riddick was more animal than he was human so there was no way he was sleeping.

"With me you will always deal with mercs because I'm not leaving you to rot"


	4. Chapter 4

_Why am I shaking? What the hell is going on? Oww, my fucking arm hurts, alright alright I'll wake up._

Jo woke with a start; lights and sirens were going off around her. She was still in her cryo-tube, but they shouldn't be landing yet. She looked at the counter and there was still 22 weeks to go before they reached their destination. She looked at Riddick and he only smiled. She looked behind her and saw small pieces of rock shooting through the hull and other cryo-tubes opened up, she saw John's laying on the floor. She looked back at Riddick who was tensing himself, but still smiling at her.

"You are one creepy mother…"

She never got a chance to finish the sentence because they were thrown forward, the cryo-tube started falling face down, but Riddick pushed his body weight to one side. The front shattered and Jo fell on her side half way in the tube and half way out. She could feel shards of glass piercing through her side._ What the fuck!_ Riddick strained his arms forward, and with what seemed to be little effort broke the chains holding him. He grabbed Jo's chains and yanked them from around his back breaking them too. He pulled her out of the wreckage of the glass, and laid her in the middle of the room covering her with his massive body. Pieces of scrap metal and debris were still shattering around the room. There was a sharp jump. Jo's head bounced off the metal floor. _Let me die it would be better than this!_ She silently cursed to God.

Suddenly the back broke away, and Jo looked underneath Riddick's arm to see nothing but dust and never ending sand. She grunted when they finally hit ground and skidded to a stop. Jo would have been perfectly fine just laying right there until someone came and shot her for being out of her cell, but Riddick had other ideas. He grabbed her body and laid her back in the cryo-tube.

"Stay here"

"I'm not gonna go anywhere very fast"

Jo opened her eyes minimally, his goggles seemed to be staring at her before turning and running off. She laid back down and curled on her non glass covered side. Soon others in the ship were coming out of their cryo-tubes. A woman with long curly black hair leaned over her and started calling for help. Johns ran up and pushed the woman aside and grabbed Jo by her upper arms.

"Stand up!"

Jo struggled a minute then obliged the fucking persistent man. He lifted the side of her white prison shirt, and then led her over to a seat. He looked back at the cryo-tube. No Riddick. Johns stands and reached for his gun, its gone. Jo notices two pair of chained feet lower down behind his head. She shut her eyes and heard the startled gasp as Riddick caught Johns around the neck with his ankle restraints, Jo opened her eyes and saw Riddick holding on to the support beam, Johns was beating him with his baton, but was nearly out of oxygen so he leaned as far forward as he could and pulled Riddick from the support. Riddick slammed face-first into the floor and Johns brought the baton down on the back of his head.

"One chance and you blew it, Riddick. Never cease to disappoint me."

Johns turned back to Jo who was sitting wide eyed staring at the body of her only hope lying in a limp on the floor. _Shit, guess feminine wiles trumps strength here_. Jo turned to face Johns who was bent down looking at her sides. He pulled the big pieces of glass out and used some tweezers to get the little pieces out. He pulled her shirt off of her, since she was a stripper and actually wearing a sports bra, she could have cared less. He took the shirt and ripped it and turned it into a bandage. Once Jo was fixed he grabbed the end of the broken chain and carried it with him, as he tied Riddick to a bulkhead. He turned out of the cabin; Jo was still staring at Riddick. Johns pulled on her wrist chain and she turned toward him; but didn't fight when he pulled her with him.

"C'mon we gotta find out what happened"

Jo followed him out and they made their way to the flight deck, it seemed like no one was there, but then they heard a voice

"Hey"

Johns turned back into the cockpit, "Hey Who?"

"Hey me, over here"

Johns crawled over some dirt and found a woman buried to her neck in dirt.

"Amazing, I'm Johns"

"Caroline Fry, I'd shake hands… but"

Johns started to dig at the dirt surrounding Caroline; Jo leaned over and began pulling dirt away from the chair. Caroline was finally free, she turned and saw Jo then noticed the cuffs still on her wrists. Johns lifted up the other end of the chain and shook at Caroline.

"Don't worry I got her"

"There were two, wheres the other?"

"He's tied up in the cabin; he wasn't behaving like she is"

Jo reached out a hand toward Caroline. "Josi Parker"

Caroline hesitated but finally reached out and grasped her hand. They shook briefly then headed back into the main cabin; Caroline ran forward and started pulling debris away from one area. Finally she broke through and the dead body of one of the crew was found underneath. Caroline reached down to him when suddenly he screamed.

"Out, out, out, GET IT OUTTA ME!"

"Shit Owen!"

Caroline leaned in close to Owen and some of the other passengers gathered around, making suggestions as to what to do. The man had a large metal rod right threw his chest, and it was pretty close to his heart. Caroline put her hand around the bar and Owen began to scream again.

"Don't touch it! Don't touch that switch"

Caroline looked around at the stunned group.

"Get away everybody"

Johns herded everyone out, he grabbed one little boy by his collar and started pulling Jo and the boy along. With nothing else to do Jo looked down at the kid, he must have been around twelve. He was small though, and his cheeks weren't as defined as most boys. That's when she noticed the major point that gave the kid away. No Adams apple. Not even a hint at one, now Jo had been around plenty of Drag Queens, but she never really saw twelve year old girls that really wanted to be boys. She figured the kid had a perfectly good reason so she didn't mention it.

Johns pulled her outside with him and they passed by Riddick quickly, Jo could tell he was awake now. He probably wasn't to happy that he was tied up either, Jo put one hand behind her back and crossed her fingers hoping Riddick would remember their childhood way of saying 'she had a plan' his low growl proved he'd seen her.

Riddick had seen Jo's signal, but he couldn't wait around to see what her plan was. He needed to get out and scout the area to see what kind of trouble he was in now, or if would turn out to be his best means of escape. So as soon as everyone was out of sight Riddick saw his chance, he pushed himself up against the beam as high as he could then pulled his arms from behind him, dislocating his shoulders and pulling the chains through a broken section of the beam above him. As he popped his shoulders back in he fell forward grabbing a cutting torch hanging from above him as he went. He pulled his mouth bit out and grabbed some goggles that had fallen out of the tool box. He struck the torch against the metal to get it started then cut his wrist cuffs off. He snuck outside dropping the mouth bit in the sand a ways from the ship and then taking off over some dunes and heading in the other direction.

When they stepped out of the crash sight Jo noticed how un-godly bright it was, and then realized there were two suns. She looked around her at the other survivors. She saw the woman that had leaned over her cryo-tube; she was standing by a man, who Jo assumed was her husband. To her left were the Chrislams. There were four of them each facing a different direction since there was no way to tell which way was west or toward New Mecca. She was pulled again, and Johns jerked her behind some of the wreckage and into some shade,_ thank god_.

Johns hooks her up to some metal pieces and squatted down next to her. He wasn't looking at her, so she tried to get his attention with some chit-chat.

"What happened?"

"Not sure, I'll find out later and let you know"

"OK"

"You know, you seem pretty calm about all this"

"I'm tired, I hurt… everywhere, I don't have enough energy to be worried"

Johns chuckled a little; he looked back up at her with a grin on his face. It was kinda cute, but he was still a merc. It made it easier though to play him when he was actually good looking, an asshole, but good looking none the less. The screaming inside the ship quieted down and Fry climbed out. Johns stood up and walked over to where a little group had formed. Jo took the time to lie down she still hurt badly and it was hard to breathe in this new atmosphere. She had been asleep for a while when the little kid that she had seen earlier walked to her and sat down in the sand right next to her. _Cute kid not even scared_.

"So little miss what's up"

The kid stared at her confused, "How did you know"

"Your neck, no Adams apple, I've seen a lot of cross dressers. It's easy for you to fool them…" Jo cocked her head in the direction of the group. "But me, I know who's a guy and who's a girl"

"Are you gonna tell them"

"Nope, you have your reasons you can tell them when you want"

"Why are you a prisoner? You don't seem scary"

"I killed three men"

The kid leaned back a little, Jo smiled a little…

"Don't worry kid; I did it because they raped my friend."

"They had it comin' then"

"Good Girl"

"Call me Jack"

"Jo"

They shook hands and then Johns walked back over and kicked some dirt at Jack.

"Scat kid"

Jack got up and slumped away, obviously not very apt to authority. _I like that kid_.

"We're losing water, so we're sending out a party to look for some. You're going with me. Ok"

Jo shrugged "Fine"

Johns un-cuffed her from the metal, and pulled the chains and cuffs off. He shook the cuffs in front of her face.

"I'm gonna leave these off. If you try to run I will shoot you. Understand?"

"Does it look like I have anywhere else I could go" She gestured to the surrounding landscape.

"Nope so you might want to stick close to me or you may die out there"

"Wow I have so many options" Jo rolled her eyes and started to follow behind Johns. Suddenly Caroline came running up to him from inside the ship.

"Johns we got a problem"

"What now?"

"Riddick's gone"

John pulled out his pistol and started running out toward a rise so he could see the land better. He grabbed Jo's hand and made her follow. He ran up to a shiny object in the ground and saw Riddick's mouth bit lying in the dirt. Johns picked it up and then threw it as far as he could.

"Like we needed another way to die"

Jo came up and stood next to Johns, also scanning the horizon. Then she saw Riddick, running into a pile of what looked like bones, she turned quickly back to Johns and hoped he hadn't notice, he didn't because he started running back to the ship. _I'm gonna kill this fucker for running so much_. Jo followed him back and he made everyone find any kind of weapon they could, everyone except Jo. What they didn't know was she wasn't worried about Riddick; it was the weird bone things that scared her.


	5. Chapter 5

Johns was loading his shotgun as everyone else started to gather up pick axes and old relic weapons that an antiquities dealer named Paris had brought on the trip. There was also a lot of booze but still no water. Everyone headed back outside and were told to keep an eye out. Jo and Johns were left alone in the hold, Johns started to wobble over a bit then shook his head, and stood up straight again. Jo looked at him for a beat then it hit her…

"What's wrong with you?"

"Little swamp flu from the congo system. Never shook it with all this Cryo-sleep."

"Bullshit"

Johns looked at her straight with the gun still clutched in his hands, Jo didn't back down she knew what he was and how much more dangerous it made him.

"You're an addict aren't you?"

"No"

"Yes you are I can see it in your eyes"

Johns lifted the gun a little pointing it toward her. "You gonna rat on me"

"No, but you had better get some drugs in you. I'd rather see you high then have to deal with a monster going through withdrawls"

"Really? A monster?"

"Yeah, I've seen people on this shit and if they can't get it, it ain't pretty. So you get your drugs, if not it won't be Riddick we have to worry about"

He flinched when she compared him to Riddick. He knew she was right though; he stood up and pulled her outside. They were going to try and find water, where they thought that they would find water on a forsaken planet like this, Jo had no idea but she went along anyways.

* * *

They seemed like a strange expedition group, one merc, one convict, a pilot, and some holy Chrislams. One of the younger pilgrims ran up to Imam and pulled on his shirt, he was shouting something in Arabic and pointing out to the horizon, coming up slowly was a blue sun. The mining couple, Zeke and Shazza stared at each other and Jo gave a look over to Johns.

"Three suns?"

"So much for your nightfall" Zeke nodded over to Fry.

Paris sighed dramatically "So much for my happy hour"

Caroline conversed a little with Imam then they decided to get there little excursion under way. The Chrislams led chanting and swinging incense pots, Caroline followed behind speaking with Imam and Jo and Johns brought up the rear. _It is too damn hot out here_. Luckily the heavy shirt she'd been using as a bandage was replaced by some gauze they had found in a small med kit. None of her wounds had been too deep so they were healing ok, but they still hurt like a son of a bitch. Johns stepped back and nudged Jo with his shoulder.

"You ok over there"

"Yeah I'm fine"

"Good, I can't have you die out here"

"Johns how much would get for me?"

"Not sure, depends on the warden at the slam. You're a woman so a man will pay more. But you have a nearly spotless record, so somewhere down the line they may let you out, so a man won't pay too much if he don't think you'll be there long."

"Wouldn't I be more beneficial to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm a woman, you move around a lot and I don't mind travel… and I can make a guy real comfy"

"Really you seem taken with me and quickly what do you want" Johns grabbed her upper arm.

"Fine, I don't want to go to jail and I can't go home. Life with a good looking man who can take care of himself is really attractive"

"I'm not a one woman man sweetheart"

"I wasn't asking you to be, just take me with you. Have the girls you want I don't care, think of it as mutual. I can be a stripper anywhere; you keep me out of jail I make you money. It's really a business deal with perks"

"I'll think about it, don't give me any reason not to trust you" Then he let her go and walked two steps ahead of her.

_I doubt you'll live long enough to say no._ But Jo kept her thoughts to herself, she didn't want anyone to know about her relationship with Riddick, it kept her off their radars.

Soon the little group came up to tall thin trees, the young Chrislams ran over to them but Jo felt like there was something weird. The trees weren't trees they were bones, huge massive ones half buried in the sand. Everyone slowed down and began to explore through the bones. They looked like the ribcages of huge animals. Jo moved around a little sticking close to Johns, she found an area that was covered by comb like bones. She sat and leaned up against them, there was a little shade and it felt so wonderful. Johns came up beside her and held out his hand, Jo was going to stand but felt a little pressure at her lower back to the left of the spine, fourth lumbar down. _Fuck_.

"Can I sit for a minute?"

He looked at her oddly, but shrugged "You gonna run off?"

"I need you to get off this planet, I'm not going anywhere"

"Ok I'll be back in five minutes, be ready to go"

Jo gave him a mock salute and then leaned against the bones. As soon as he was out of sight she let out a huge breath. She didn't want to move, she had no idea what Riddick was up to but she knew not to test him.

"So… your little deal with Johns? Was that your plan all along, ride his dick out of here?" He put more pressure on her back.

Jo didn't turn around but turned her head just little, she saw a tiny amount of shiny black goggles through the bones. "How'd you know I had a deal with him?"

"I heard you going over it, funny what people don't realize when it's just on the other side of a hill"

"You followed us"

"The entire way, now why are you making plans with John" She could hear the low anger in his voice, and since he was being so calm she knew he must be furious.

"If Johns trusts me he won't be paranoid about having to watch two prisoners. Please I told you I had a plan, give me some credit Riddick. If I can distract Johns then you can find some way to get rid of him."

"So you're not actually going to fuck him"

Jo turned fully to glare at him through the bones. "Riddick I wouldn't even fuck him with _your_ dick"

"That's good to know"

"I have to go, please find some way to get me the hell outta here. I told you that wouldn't be able to break out of prison, but if I never make it there then it's all good. Just get me away from the merc and then I can take care of myself from there"

"You won't have to"

Jo raised an eyebrow about to ask what that meant but Riddick fell back into the shadows and Jo stood up to follow where Johns had gone. She found Johns and Caroline sitting against a large bone, and right behind them was Riddick, he had his shiv out. Jo wanted to yell; there was no reason for Riddick to kill the captain. She hesitated though; Riddick put his shiv through and cut a tiny piece of Caroline's hair. _ Cocky Bastard_ He could have been spotted only if Johns had been smart enough to turn the fuck around. Jo walked up to them and when they noticed her Caroline immediately got quiet. _What the hell?_ Johns stood up and led them both away; Jo took a small glance toward the bones, but no Riddick.

* * *

Riddick watched from on top of some bones as Jo walked away with John's. He wanted to go after her and keep her away from him, but she did have a good point if Johns wasn't worried about the both of them, they had an advantage. He just couldn't shake the anger over John's being able to talk freely with her and be around her, when he had to keep his distance to make sure no one caught on to his relationship to her. Riddick decided to head back to the ship he was going to need to scavenge some stuff from the others. When he made it back he saw Paris climb down from the little cabana he'd set up on top of the ship, so Riddick climbed up and took his spot from his vantage point he could see a dirty and bloody man walking towards the ship, another survivor apparently. He watched as Shazza leapt out at the guy but stop just short of killing him, but Zeke wasn't so hesitant he pulled out a pistol and shot the guy in the back. _Probably thought it was me_ Riddick just chuckled; he didn't even need to do anything. His reputation and weird circumstances were enough and people were doing the dirty work for him. _One less person to try and stop him later. _He watched Zeke drag the body over to the grave he was digging so he decided to follow him. He hung behind some spires that were around the grave, he saw Zeke pull back the tarp but all the bodies originally there were gone and there was a small hole in the side. Once Riddick saw Zeke crawl inside the hole he snuck down to get a better look, but then Zeke started screaming and shooting, Riddick ran over to the grave but the screaming suddenly stopped, there was blood all over and no sign of Zeke. Riddick realized there was something on this planet and he didn't want to stick around to find out what. Just then the tarp blew back and Riddick looked up and locked eyes with Shazza. Riddick started running.

The search party came to a canyon; everyone was silent except for the quiet mumbling of Imam's prayers. Finally the young Chrislams found something strange; it was a baseball. Everyone kept moving and came across a settlement, except it was deserted. Fortunately there was a water-recovery unit. _Thank god_. Jo stood around while the men and boys tried to repair the old machine; her eyes followed Caroline who had headed into a room in one of the buildings. Jo followed; instead of following Caroline though she took another route and ended in some apartment style rooms.

She looked around the walls; there were dusty pictures and some old clothes in a closet. It felt very strange so Jo started to back out, then strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and a hand clamped down over her mouth.

"Don't go too far, he may be out there"

Johns let go of her and gave a cocky smile, Jo gave him the best fake smile she could but inside all she wanted to do was to shove her boot into his balls. She mock laughed and put a hand over her heart.

"Dammit, don't do that"

Johns started laughing and held out his hand to her, Jo took it and let him lead her outside. He started pulling her under some old clothesline.

"We found something good"

He gestured under a sheet and she saw the skiff in front of her, it wasn't much but it may be their only hope. Fry was doing a systems check, she said that there was no power and that they'd need cells to get it off the ground. Caroline was going to go over a plan to make it work when John's put up a hand, and turned his head into the wind.

"Thought I heard something"

"Like what?"

"My pistol"

John started to head back toward the ship, he told Caroline and the others to get water and find out what they needed for the skiff. Jo followed close behind Johns who had his shotgun cocked and ready. Then there were more gunshots, and they were close and very clear. Johns broke out at a run with Jo following as fast as she could behind him. The running hurt her lungs and the light made it hard to go very far without stumbling over something, but she had to make sure that Riddick was not part of whatever gunfight was going on. Jo stopped dead when she saw John's raise his gun and shoot, a man dropped to the ground. She ran over but Johns put his arm out. Jo stopped when she saw it was Riddick his head beneath John's boot. She wanted to hit Johns and take off but the others were coming fast so she backed up and let Johns take Riddick.

Everyone took their turns punching Riddick, she tried to step in, but Riddick gave her a look even behind his goggles that Jo knew meant he wanted her to stay out of this. He took hit after hit for something he hadn't even done. They accused him of killing Zeke, not just killing slaughtering, they said there was blood all over the grave he'd been tasked to dig, but how come there was none on Riddick. Not even Riddick could have ripped a man to shreds and not gotten any blood on him. Johns pulled Riddick up and dragged him back to the ship. He had been chained to a post inside, she wanted to know what was going on, but no one except for Fry and Johns were allowed near him. Then she saw little Jack, the kid was sneaking into a hole on the side of the ship, so Jo walked over and tapped the back of her head she froze and turned around slowly, when she saw it was Jo her scared look went away.

"What ya doin' kid"

Jack looked down like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "I just wanted to see him"

"Good, me too. How do we get in there?"

Jack smiled broadly, "Follow me"

The pair crawled through the small hole fortunately both of them being small they could fit pretty well. Jack slid down onto some steps just inside the room where they were holding Riddick, Jo leaned on some pipes. She could overhear Caroline asking Riddick about the murder and where the body was; Jo smiled at the way Riddick could scare the fuck out of people just by talking to them. The kid seemed pretty taken with him too. Caroline was asking him about the sounds, and he started telling her about the sweet spot. Then he began go over how blood tasted, Jo knew that he knew what it tasted like from all the times he had bitten her when they had sex and had drawn blood. _Ok Riddick quit being an ass_.

"All you people are so scared of me an' most days I'd take that as a compliment, but it ain't me you have to worry about now."

"Show me your eyes"

_Hey back the fuck off lady… wait where the hell did that come from?_

Caroline went over and pulled the goggles off Riddick's eyes, but he still had them shut, and then when Caroline had gotten close to his face his eyes shot open. Jo put a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing at the look on Caroline's face. That's when Jack crawled down a few more steps, Jo tried to grab her pants but she was already down.

"How do I get eyes like that?"

"You gotta kill a few people"

"I can do that"

"Then you gotta get sent to slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. Then you dig up a doctor and pay him 50 menthol cools to do a surgical shine job on your eyes"

"So you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark"

"Exactly"

Jo could remember the first night she saw Riddick with his new eyes, it had caught her off guard at first. She'd hated them, like they were mocking her for failing him. Eventually though she'd grown used to them even though in the back of her mind they were a constant reminder of all he'd been through and suffered. Jo finally crawled out of her spot, pretending as if she hadn't been there the whole time.

"Ugh there you are kid" She grabbed Jack's collar "Sorry I said I'd look after him and he got away from me, just barely saw him crawl down here. Cmon Jack, you need to stay away from murders"

The irony wasn't lost on Riddick who just laughed or Caroline who scoffed and pointed Jo and Jack out the door. Jo pulled Jack along and back outside; Caroline followed after Riddick told her to look deeper in the hole. Jo and Jack curled up in some shade, while Caroline went over to the group to let them know the verdict. Jo pulled out some whiskey she'd pilfered from Paris and took a big swig, she handed the bottle over to Jack who took a sip and coughed up. Jo just laughed at her and then Paris walked up and looked down at Jo then over to Jack obviously pissed he was having to share his bounty.

"Are you keeping an eye on the little brat?"

Jo looked down at Jack and laughed. "Yeah I am, this shit is good by the way."

She stood up and squared up to Paris. She stared straight into his cocky face, she would have hit him but Johns walked by and told them they were all going back to the hole.

They all arrived at the hole and Johns and Caroline were arguing. Some one had to go in the hole and look for Zeke's body. It was no use, Riddick hadn't killed that guy something else was here with them and they needed to find out before they all went one by one. So Caroline went into the hole, she had a rope around her waist and a flashlight in front of her. She crawled deeper and deeper, until her feet had disappeared from sight. They waited for awhile and then Jo heard something, Jack perked up to. It was an indistinct voice, but someone was screaming. Jo backed away from the hole and tried to follow the sound. She looked over at Jack, who was doing the same thing, then the kid's eyes widen twice their size and she pointed toward a spire.

"It's over there"

Both girls took off toward the spire, Johns jumped when he saw them running and dropped the chain and chased after them…

"Hey… what the hell… Come Back Here"

Jo and Jack dropped down next to the spire and could clearly make out Carolines's voice inside yelling for help. Johns ran up and heard it too, so he moved the girls and threw his pick axe into the soft dirt of the spire, pieces broke away and a hand reached out from the hole. Jo reached down and grabbed Carolines's wrist and began pulling her out.

"It's ok… We got you"

Caroline was panting hard and everyone around was looking to her for answers. Shazza came forward and pushed others out of the way; though, Jo still kept hold of Carolines's wrist until she calmed down.

"Did you find him? Did you find Zeke?"

"…wasn't Riddick… it was… it was… goddamn that was stupid… but wasn't Riddick. Somethin' else down there that got Zeke and nearly got…"

Before she could say 'me' Caroline was violently tugged back into the hole. Jo held onto her as people scrambled to pull her back. It was like a sadistic game of tug-of-war. Pull hard Fry lives, slack a little and you've lost your captain. Imam unsheathed a blade and cut through Carolines's belt, Jo looked into the hole and saw the rope descend and several shadows chase after it.

"We have to go now"

No one questioned her, everyone just ran back to the ship grabbing what supplies they needed. It was all loaded onto a sled of scrap metal. Johns had gone down into the ship to grab some gear, and when Jo had gone to follow him he had told her to stay up top. She wasn't sure what he was going to do, but definitely didn't like it when she heard a shot gun blast go off. Jo dropped the gear she had and ran into the ship, she stopped just before colliding into Riddick he gave her smirk before pushing her aside and stepping out. _What the Hell?_ Johns was following behind with his shotgun trained on Riddick's back.

Johns shrugged "He's gonna help us out"

Jo looked at Johns then blinked a couple times, possibilities of what just took place running through her mind.

"I'm sure he will"


	6. Chapter 6

Jo walked next to Jack just behind Shazza, Johns and Imam. Riddick had been turned into a beast of burden and was dragging heavy sleds. They were going back to the compound to get the skiff prepared and get the hell of this rock. Jo looked back at Riddick, he smirked at her and she gave a little smile back. When she turned back she could hear Shazza and Paris arguing about Riddick.

"So snap your fingers and he's one of us now" Shazza accused

Johns just shrugged and gave a look back at Riddick. "At least now I don't have to worry about y'all falling asleep and not waking back up"

Imam stepped up next to Shazza "Well I feel we owe Mr. Riddick amends"

Jo began to laugh and the group stopped to turn around and look at her, she stopped and looked around at them.

"Umm… the kid… he said something funny" pointing at Jack who raised an eyebrow but didn't protest.

The group simply shrugged or rolled their eyes; they turned around and continued walking.

"Well I think we should at least give him Oxygen" said Imam

"Nah he's happy just bein' vertical"

Jack pulled up a little and stood in between Shazza and Johns.

"So does this mean I can talk to him?"

In unison all said "No!

* * *

Finally they were back at the settlement; everyone began looking around seeing if there was anything they could scavenge to repair the ships wings.

Jo went back inside the apartment block; she bit back her feeling of dread and finally entered into one. She ran her fingers over the dust on an old cot; it had messed up sheets; like whoever was here last got up in a hurry and never came back. She picked up one of the pictures, it held a smiling family; a mom and dad, and two little boys. _It's a ghost town_. Jo ran her fingers over the faces of the little boys and was so lost in her own thought she didn't feel the masculine presence come into the room with her.

"You should probably stay outside with the others"

Jo jumped at the unexpected comment; she spun around to find black goggles staring at her. "Jesus Christ, Riddick, could you not do that. I mean honestly do you get some sick enjoyment out of being the scary guy. Creepy bastard." She turned back around and placed the photo back and continued looking at the rest.

"If I'm the creepy bastard what does that make you?" He said as he wrapped his arms around her small waist. Jo's finger passed over a young girl smiling happily. _What happened to you?_

"It makes me a silly girl" She spun around to face him; she looked into his eyes past the goggles and past the walls that all the years had built around them. For a moment she thought she saw the chocolate colored eyes she remembered when she was younger and they were kids. She didn't want to admit it to him, but she needed him not only to get her off this rock but to keep her from turning into the emotionless vessel that her job was turning her into. She wanted to feel love, not something she would normally associate with Riddick, but it was still possible if he were able to get away from his past, she believed he could love too. Jo stopped staring into his eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. Riddick pulled one hand through her hair and held her neck.

He wanted to keep her like that forever he could protect her that way. He might be a creepy bastard but the only thing that was creeping him out was the realization that he actually loved Jo. It was an emotion so unfamiliar to him, but he doubted he could deny it. He pulled her head away from his shoulder and kissed her softly on the lips. Jo almost melted into puddle at his feet; this kiss was the sweetest thing that she'd ever gotten from Riddick.

They heard a door swing open and slam shut with a heavy scraping sound in the complex they were in; Jo roughly pushed Riddick toward a closet and then walked out the door. She leaned out into the hallway looked one way and then when she looked the other,

"AHHHHH"

"Sorry Sorry, I was just looking around I didn't mean to scare you"

"Fuck Jack, nearly killed me."

"I was just looking around sorry"

Jo noticed she'd shaved her head and had a pair of kid's goggles on her forehead. _Oh great, Riddick's now a role model. _Jo pulled on the goggles then let them snap back on Jack's forehead.

"Its ok, just stick close to me so that you're not popping out at me, c'mon nothing in there except some old pictures"

Jo led Jack back out of the worker apartments, when they had gone far enough Jo glanced back to see Riddick slip out and around the corner.

* * *

_Damn that kid_, Riddick thought. He was so close to her and now he was aroused beyond belief. He kept walking, taking a round about way back toward the group; he was hoping to slip into the back, no such luck. Johns rounded on him with his 12 gage hanging by his side.

"Where have you been?"

Riddick just shrugged. Johns accepted it for now and walked over to where there small group was congregating, Riddick waited in the background listening to the conversation. Everyone now had water from the old well rig they had found in the middle of the settlement.

The group began to theorize on where all the settlers had gone.

"Why'd they leave there emergency skiff?"

"Maybe a larger transport picked them up"

"A skiff is disposable"

Riddick stepped up to the group his goggles off and stared at the ground.

"These people didn't leave, C'mon. Whatever got Zeke got them, they're all dead"

Everyone stared at him like he'd just pissed in the punch bowl.

Jo rolled her eyes she knew he was right, but also knew Riddick well enough to know that he was trying to mess with everyones minds by stating the facts rather than let everyone believe what they wanted.

"You don't really think they left with clothes on the hooks and photos on the shelves"

Shazza looked up "Maybe they had weight limits, you don't know"

"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency"

Jack stiffened a bit and said "He's fucking right"

Jo pulled her ears, no need for the little shim (she-him) to bring attention to herself. Jo looked around the group; Riddick had done what he wanted and had everyone scared.

Just then the holy man Imam ran through the doors looking very frightened "Has anyone seen the little one, Ali"

"Has anyone checked the coring room" Riddick stated nonchalantly.

* * *

Johns shot through the handles on the door to the coring room; he, Caroline, and Imam went in first. Everyone else hung back near the entrance. Jo was at the back of the group and was about to step into the room when she felt a tug on her shirt. She looked to the side to see Riddick leaning against the wall just the right of the doors. She leaned against the door frame and faced the inside everyone was to engrossed in the room to notice she had stopped.

"What do you want?" She said in deadly whisper.

"Don't go inside"

"Why?"

"Trust me"

"You know don't help your cause by being all mysterious and then telling everyone exactly what's going on"

"I don't give a shit what they think"

"You might when they decide you've out lived your purpose and you become a threat"

"I'm a threat now, I'm better off dead to them"

"Yeah well not to me"

With that she walked into the room just as Imam was pushed over by a group of bat-things, they circled the room as everyone ducked out of their way. Jo was a little slow on getting out of the way and was cut across the top of the arm. The flying things zoomed down into a hole in the middle of the room. As everyone cautiously got up the mutilated body of Ali fell down beside Imam. The chrislams took the body outside to bury it while the group gathered to once again talk about their current situation. Jo was getting tired of the guessing, she wished they would stop exploring and just get the skiff ready to get them off this rock.

Everyone gathered around the hole. Riddick was underneath the grating looking into the hole.

"They came in here cus they thought they'd be safe, but they forgot to lock the cellar"

"Well those things like darkness so we'll just stick to the light" Johns said getting ready to round everyone back up.

Once they had explored the hole Caroline explored the coring samples, which led her to an unsavory realization. She took them to a room she had found earlier with a layout of the solar system. Coming up this month was a full eclipse so John's idea of staying in the light was soon going to be worthless.

But instead of hurrying like they should have Jo watched Johns and Caroline walk to the skiff and step inside, she followed them and sat down next to the entrance. She could just barely make out what they were saying. She could hear John's explaining to Fry how Riddick had escaped the last time, and he didn't want him getting a second chance at it. The bastard was gonna turn Riddick in anyways even though they had a deal. Just then Jo felt a hand slide across her hip bone and down to squeeze her thigh, she looked to see Riddick had crawled up beside her and was lying in the sand in the shade of the skiff. Next to him he had a can of grease usually used to lube up machine parts and next to that a shiv. Jo tried to close her legs together to make Riddick stop, but all it ended up doing was trapping his hand between her thighs. She hissed as she felt his fingers slide over the crotch of her pants.

"Riddick someone's gonna see you"

"Not if you just calm down and don't make a scene"

"Easy for you to say, you wanna trade places and we'll see how calm you can be?"

"That's doesn't sound like a bad idea"

Riddick pulled Jo further along the side of the skiff so they were sitting underneath a wing slightly tucked away. He put one arm behind her back and pulled her to straddle his legs.

"Riddick this really isn't a good idea" She looked around and kept going back and forth to make sure there was no one around to see them.

"I kinda like it actually, you on top of me all scared and panicked. Makes me hot and dizzy"

"That is your brain melting from stupidity"

"You know you're enjoying yourself" He ground his erection into her to prove his point.

Jo let out a gasp but quickly bit her bottom lip to keep from being to loud. God she really was enjoying herself and damn Riddick for knowing it too. She ground against him as well and was delighted in the intake of breath she received when she did.

"Ha, you're not so calm now are ya?"

She leaned her mouth down toward his; she'd been waiting to kiss him this entire time. Then the sound of footsteps reverberating on metal halted her actions and she leapt off Riddick and ran off to find the other group. Riddick watched her go and sighed. He slid some of the grease on his head and began to shave what little stubble there was. Jo had just disappeared behind some tarps when Johns rounded the side of the ship and began to reprimand Riddick on having a shiv.


	7. Chapter 7

When Jo found the group they were all staring off into the horizon except the horizon was now filled with large rings and the top of another planet was beginning to crown. _Oh shit the eclipse._ Everyone ran frantically for the sand cat. Everyone was inside except for Johns and Riddick.

"Where's Riddick" Jack yelled to the group, Jo pulled her down into her lap and held her still fearing she'd actually jump out to find him.

"Leave him" Paris said. "He wouldn't wait for us"

Just then the sand cat jolted and Riddick landed swiftly behind Paris. Paris gulped "Thought we'd lost you" then quickly sat down, Jo gave Riddick a smirk from behind Jack and he sat down across from them. Johns finally made it out to the sand cat, probably after retrieving his drugs. Riddick actually stood up and helped Johns into the sandcat. Finally they were off, something Jo felt like they should have done several hours ago.

They all made it to the ship quickly everyone but Shazza and Jack ran inside to grab the power cells. Then Paris ran off in the direction of the cargo container to grab "a few items". The ringed planet was coming up quickly; Jo had found herself useless to lift the heavy cells so she ran back outside to the sand cat. She saw Shazza and Jack trying to wipe away the dirt from the solar converter to try to gain as much light as possible, Jo went over and furiously began to wipe down the solar panels. Most of the power cells had been loaded but everyone stared in horror as the planet blotted out the sun and the sand cat sputtered and then finally died.

A terrible screeching noise could be heard coming from across the sand from the spires that jutted out of the ground. Everyone stared in morbid fascination as creatures began flying from the spires circling into the sky as the light faded. Now only Riddick could see for sure what was happening, Paris yelled from the container ship that everyone should flee and so they did. Everyone ran as fast as they could to the somewhat intact ship.

Shazza was still cursing the sand cat so Jo grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the ship, Riddick was last person to start running. Everyone had made it the ship except for Shazza, Jo, and Riddick. The creatures were close behind; Caroline yelled for everyone to get down. So all three jumped into the ditch just as the creatures swarmed overhead. They flew by quickly and Jo started to rise but she felt a pressure on her ankle, she knew it was Riddick and knew he was trying to tell her to stay down. Suddenly Shazza started running forward and Jack kept telling her to get down, and for good reason another group of creatures flew by and over Riddick and Jo. Jo could feel the air from their wings as they passed she looked up to see them clawing at Shazza; Jo began to move forward but Riddick's grip on her ankle tightened preventing her from going anywhere. She watched as Shazza was lifted and torn in half, she began to cry out of fear and frustration, as soon as Riddick let go of her ankle she sprinted for the door. Jo ran past everyone and to a corner turning her back to everyone, once she collapsed she began to sob quietly to herself. People started searching in the dark for any type of light source. They were all crowded together in a small hallway; and could hear the creatures outside clawing to get inside.

Riddick came up close to Jo, only as close as to rub the tip of his boot along the side of her shoe. He could see the cuts on her and knew that they would need to be looked at soon. Imam broke through a door into another room so as Jo stood up to follow them Riddick slid his hand along her waist. She did the same thing and ran her fingers along his thigh as she walked by. It was a simple gesture but it assured him immensely that she might live through this.

The group kept moving farther into the ship trying to find somewhere where the creatures couldn't get them. Finally they came to a spot where everyone gathered around a cutting torch and went over the few options they had left.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone gathered around the cutting torch trying to stay as much within the circle of light as they could. Johns and Caroline started arguing immediately when Caroline suggested they run for it, with as much light as they could. It was a pretty entertaining argument to say the least until Johns used Jack to hide his own fear. Jo sidled up next to Jack and put her arm around her.

"Don't worry kid. We're gonna make it" Jo hoped she was being honest, the look in Jack's eyes betrayed the fact she didn't believe her. Jo was so engrossed in comforting Jack that she had only half heard what was going on between Johns and Caroline, but when Johns jumped up and Riddick jumped forward; Johns put the shotgun to his head Jo nearly felt her heart leap out of her chest and barely contained herself from jumping up and throwing herself in front of Riddick, fortunately she just managed to look startled like everyone else. Then she heard a faint tapping noise and could see where Riddick had a shiv laying right next to John's groin ready to take out what little manhood he had. Jo quickly hid the smirk on her face when Johns was forced to sit; Riddick noticed it though and gave a little smirk of his own right back to her. This was turning out to be such a pleasant adventure.

* * *

So it came down to Caroline's plan, they were going to grab as much light as they could and then haul ass back to the settlement and get everyone piled on the skiff. It sounded easy enough, if you didn't consider the hundreds; possibly thousands, of carnivorous creatures waiting to eat them whole. And to add on top of all of that… Riddick was the one that was going to lead them.

Jo had complete faith in Riddick to get her to the skiff, or so she hoped, but she wasn't sure about the rest. It was no rumor that Riddick didn't trust people and would never go out of his way to help anyone. He never had been a hero; Riddick was a loner and it took a really long time to get even somewhat on his good side, and if you were on his bad side… well you might as well put a shiv to your throat and end it yourself.

Jo had been lucky as a child to have made it on to his good side before he had such a lack of distrust. It also helped out that Jo had given him shelter countless times when the old drunken owner of the orphanage would beat the shit out of him. She never knew how Riddick survived; maybe he just had a knack for escape. He had been made into what he was today by the way he grew up; he wasn't always like this either he'd once had aspirations about going into the military. It wasn't til that old sonuvabitch put his hands on one too many kids and Riddick had finally been of a size he could do something about it that he'd finally snapped. Jo had seen him that night, he'd come to her house like he did so many times before, he told her what happened, and she had convinced him to tell the police the truth. Whole lotta good that did, they just said it would have been reported sooner if it were true the old codger beat the kids, so they said Riddick was just a another delinquent youth, he was sentenced to a life in prison. Jo would never forget the look in Riddick's eyes as the police took him away. It wasn't accusing or angry, it was sad like he was upset that he was never gonna see her again. That look is the reason Jo helped Riddick escape the first time. Riddick could easily get out of any chains, but getting out of the prison was more difficult, that's why Jo got into stripping. One night she managed to meet the right person, a prison transport driver, who for a price and a little extra would forge up transportation documents to take Riddick out, then he'd let him go his merry way using the old "knock-me-out" trick. Finally Jo relayed the plans to Riddick during one of their visitation days, unfortunately when Riddick had asked how she'd managed this she'd told him… everything. So when the time came for the old "knock-me-out" Riddick put a shiv through the mans throat, and thus became the notorious killer he is today. There was only one major fight Riddick and Jo had ever had and it was over the choices they'd made then. Jo felt if she'd just told Riddick to run on the first night everything would be okay, Riddick felt that if he'd just kept a cool head things would've been fine. Jo never shook the feeling of failing him and she knew that no matter what happened in the next few hours she would get Riddick out of here alive and somehow Johns had to die here.

* * *

Finally when everyone had agreed to the ridiculous idea, they headed back outside into the pitch black to grab whatever light they could and to get the power cells, which they would have to drag behind them. _Oh yea, great fuckin' plan_ Jo thought as she climbed out of the ship in the middle of the group, but there was really no other choice. They came up to the other part of the ship and Caroline had Riddick check first to see if any creatures were lurking about.

Riddick stared into the wreckage. "Looks clear"

Johns walked up first holding his big gun out, when suddenly a creature flew out and soared over head. It seemed much bigger than the small ones they had seen earlier. Everyone dove out of the way.

"You said clear" Johns yelled from where he was laying on his back.

"I said _looks_ clear"

"Well what does it look like now?"

"Looks clear" Riddick shrugged.

_Sick bastard_ Jo climbed on board with everyone else to try and find anything that put off any kind of light. Johns found her nearly by herself and pulled her close to him.

"Look I want you to stay close, we may end up having to cut some people off if we're gonna make it, you understand"

"Yea… yea I got it"

"Good girl" and he gave her butt a pat. She almost wrapped the cables she had pulled out around his neck.

With that he walked away and headed to collect the rest of the power cells. Suddenly Riddick materialized out of no where in front of her, it startled Jo and she tried to keep from shrieking out loud.

"I swear Riddick if you pop out of the darkness at me one more time, I'm going to hurt you… and. I. Mean. It." She said through clenched teeth.

Riddick gave a small chuckle "I'd like to see you try, and I mean that. I'd really like it"

"What do you want?"

"Follow my lead; it's gonna be hell out there, unless you think Johns has a better chance at protecting you."

Jo looked up and gave him the most incredulous are-you-serious stare ever.

"Alright princess, don't get so defensive, just making sure you still trust me" Riddick went to walk away, but Jo grabbed his arm quickly then let it go.

"Riddick. You know that I will always trust you, and I know that you're the only one who can get me out. But if you could also try to save the kid too, he's grown on me."

"You mean she"

"Yea fine she" It didn't surprise her that Riddick had also figured out Jack's secret. "If it comes down to me or the kid, take the kid"

Riddick scoffed at her. "You can't really…"

"I mean it Riddick, I don't want that kid hurt!"

Riddick sighed and ran a hand over his head. "Fine I'll try, but no guarantees. The kids bleeding, they'll be going after her"

Jo gasped and looked around behind her to try and find Jack, thinking that suddenly a creature had come while she was gone and snatched her away. Jo felt a hand on her shoulder turn her towards the interior of the ship where Jack was collecting lights with everyone else. She turned back and nodded at Riddick, who leaned out of the shadows for just a second to lay a kiss on her cheek then again he was gone.

"Creepy bastard" Jo said to herself when she thought he had moved on.

"Heard that" the shadows called to her.

With a grunt and a sigh Jo stomped off to help Jack with lights and stay as close to the little boy/girl as much as possible. This was going to be the longest trek they'd ever endured.

* * *

When Riddick had seen Johns tap Jo's butt he had known then and there that no matter what happened Johns was not making it off this planet alive, he was lucky he even made it a second past that little gesture. Only the thought of Jo being in the crossfire had stopped Riddick from making a move. He was going to do whatever it took, to get Jo off this planet; he'd spent so long without her. Everyday since he first went to her house after he'd killed the orphanage owner he'd loved her and he was just now admitting it to himself. He'd gone to her not with regret, or remorse about what he'd done but he had been filled with an overwhelming dread that she'd hate him for what he'd done that she'd be disgusted with him. He'd sat in her room for hours with his head in his hands before telling her what he'd done and when he expected her to tell him to leave and never come back she'd come over and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. She told him everything would be ok, she convinced him to go to the police in the morning. Riddick had known that the police wouldn't believe him but he didn't want to see her hope for him or for the world to fade so he went along with it. They'd lost their virginities to each other that night; it was the night before both of them would have to forcefully grow up and accept the world they lived in. The next morning Riddick had gone to the cops and as he expected they incarcerated him on the spot. As they led him out of the court room, he'd watched Jo's face she had been crying and screaming, trying to push past the guards to get to him. He was never angry with her, he had been sad because he knew that he had gotten to see bliss and now it was crumbling around him and so was her perfect view of the world. When she first came to visit him in prison she'd told him how she'd moved out, her parents had seen Riddick's imprisonment as a good thing; they had never liked him being around their daughter. She'd gotten into a huge fight and then cut all ties to them, but she had started stripping to make ends meet and hoping to meet the right person to help Riddick escape. He had told her numerous times not to help him and to get out of that profession. She persisted though and finally found the right guy, she'd told him everything about how she'd gotten the guy to help, and it had made Riddick's blood boil. He agreed to the escape partly because he hated prison and wanted to be free even if it meant running and hiding, but also because he knew he was going to kill again. Jo had promised herself as a means of payment for the transporters help, and Riddick wasn't going to allow that to happen so he killed him. He'd met up with her and they had a huge fight about it and everything that had happened, they parted hating each other. So Riddick had run and kept on killing if he had to, finally after he'd had his eyes shined and he'd escaped the double max prison he went back to see her. He had planned on just going into the strip club she was still working at and watching from afar. Apparently though several of the people he had once been friends with also worked at the club, one his old friends who had now become a drag queen spotted him and let Jo know he was there. Later a napkin came by with an address on it and a note that said _You better show_. So he had gone to her apartment after she'd left. When he finally saw her face to face he'd expected her to hit him to yell at him and throw him out of her life again. But again she surprised him by running and leaping into his arms, they spent the night having sex and apologizing for everything. That's when their little trysts began; Riddick still had to run but every few months or so he would show back up just for a night to be with her.

He'd always told himself that they were just friends and it was just because they had a history that was the reason he always came back, but as Riddick watched her now he knew his own life depended on her getting off this planet with him.


	9. Chapter 9

So they start trudging along, dragging the power cells with them. Each of them was wrapped in feet of rope lights trying to gain just enough of a halo of light to keep the monsters at bay. With the worst and best monster leading them, they followed Riddick into the dark. He kept a quick pace ahead of everyone, he had some bright lights at his back but Jo was still worried that one of those things would become a little to hungry and be bold enough to try to grab him. She had been certain Riddick could hold his own against anything, but these creatures were bloodthirsty and as much as she didn't want to doubt him she didn't think even Riddick had a chance. Everyone once in a while she would point her flashlight out in front of Riddick, to others it seemed she was just looking ahead, but Jo was hoping that the little light would keep anything in front at a distance.

Jo walked closest to Jack constantly putting a hand out to make sure she was still between her and the sled. There were so few left of them now; Jo, Jack, Riddick, Johns, and Caroline, Imam and only one of his protégés and Paris. Jo wanted to survive this but every step they took away from the safety of the cargo ship made her feel they were getting closer and closer to death. She could hear the clicking and scratching of the creatures just outside their circle of light, they slowed down to a walk and she could feel the hairs on her neck stand on end, something was about to happen.

Soon Paris's blow torch ran out, he scrambled to stay inside the circle and grabbed for a bottle of liquor; in doing so though he knocked out a flare. Jack saw it and threw off her lights to reach for it, Jo grabbed for the back of her overalls but she got out of her reach. So Jo threw off her lights and jumped after her, and then they heard the screeching of those things. Next thing she knew Imam had grabbed her and Jack and rolled them to the side just in time. She felt the gust of the things wings against her face. The trio crawled back toward the sled but Paris began freaking out then a creature swooped down and knocked him on his back. He started crawling away from the sled his rope lights still around him, Caroline shouted at him to come back then everyone heard a crash and saw the flicker of the lights as the rope lights still attached to Paris pulled the entire power cell off the sled. The lights around everyone died, Jo hunched down; covering Jack with her body, and looked into the space where she thought Paris had crawled, she saw a fireball as he spit some liquor across his zippo, for a moment there was light and the hungry creatures that encircled Paris recoiled, but as soon as it came the light was gone. Jo closed her eyes even though she couldn't see anything, because she knew that just beyond them Paris was being ripped to shreds.

Everyone scrambled to light up the flares used them to light up the liquor torches. Riddick walked into the circle, no one had noticed when the lights went out that he circled around to the other side of Jo and had pulled out his shiv to keep any monsters from getting near her.

"Glad to see you're ok" Johns said.

Riddick looked out at Paris Caroline stepped forward "Do I even want to know?" He just shook his head slightly and everyone kept marching along.

"Are we getting close?" Jack asked Caroline.

Caroline called out to the guys in the front "Can we pick up the pace?"

Just then Johns stopped and threw down the rope for the sled. "Goddamit" He cursed under his breath. There were tracks on the ground in front of them, the tracks from the sled; they had just gone in circles. Jo looked up at Riddick who was standing a few yards ahead.

"We've crossed our own tracks? Why?" Jo was looking at Johns but she knew Riddick had a reason.

Johns walked over to him as he was crouched on the ground. "You wanna tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Listen"

Imam went and stood on the other side of Riddick. "Why have we circled? Are we lost?"

"Listen" Riddick said again.

"Do you even know where you are going!?"

"Listen! Canyon ahead, I circled once to buy some time to think."

That's when everyone heard it, the screeching coming from in front of them, Riddick knew they were about to walk into a choke point, handing themselves over on a silver platter. Riddick, Johns, and Imam started talking away from the group. Jo overheard Riddick talking about the creatures going off the scent of blood. Suddenly Jack came up behind her and tugged on Jo and Carolines shirts.

"Hey I gotta tell y'all something"

"What it is sweetie?" Jo whispered, Caroline gave Jo an odd look at the endearment.

"I'm bleeding"

Caroline raised an eyebrow and looked Jack over "I don't see any cuts, where…"

"I'm a girl!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

"You're what! A girl, jesus Jack why didn't you say something"

By this time no one had noticed Johns come up behind them, and he'd overheard enough to put it together. "You've got to be kidding me" Jo turned around startled and pushed Jack behind her back. "You mean this little kid is a girl"

Jack poked her head from behind Jo "I didn't want to get left behind, I'm sorry I should have said something and I could have stayed at the ship, I'm sorry"

Jo turned around and got on her knee and grabbed Jacks shoulders. "No No, it's going to be alright. Ok no ones leaving you anywhere. We will get through this. I will get you through this." Jo pulled her into her arms and held her.

Caroline walked over and sighed "Look this is not gonna work, we're gonna have to go back"

"What'd you say? You're the one who got us out here in the first place" Johns pointed a finger at her.

"Alright I was wrong. I admit it, now can we please just get back to the ship"

"Oh I don't know Caroline nice open space, cool breeze; I'm startin' to enjoy my fucking self."

"You high again Johns? Listen to yourself"

"You're right Caroline, what's to be afraid of; my life is just a meaningless piece of shit anyways"

Jo pulled Jack towards her; she could feel that there was something between Caroline and Johns that the rest of them didn't know. Then John's outed Caroline, she had told him how she had wanted to blow the passenger cabin; to save herself, when they were crashing. From the way Caroline was reacting and how angry she was getting Jo believed Johns was telling the truth. Caroline leapt at John's but he just threw her to the ground, Imam stepped in and forced them to separate.

"Grab the shit, put a cork in the kid and keep moving. The light is going forward"

Johns lit up a flare and started walking again; everyone else grabbed the sled and kept moving.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: I HAVE CHANGED UP THIS WHOLE STORY SO IF YOU'RE JUST GETTING THIS CHAPTER I SUGGEST GOING BACK AND RE-READING THE WHOLE THING!

* * *

They marched on and on, Riddick and Johns had put themselves way ahead of the group, they were talking too closely and to quietly for Jo's comfort. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, something was about to happen, Jack sidled up next to her. "What are they doing up there?"

"Their talking about the canyon I suppose, how to get us through" Imam replied.

Jo didn't figure they were doing that though, if Johns and Riddick were talking it certainly wasn't about the good of the whole group. Jo made eye contact with Caroline and could tell she was thinking the same thing so she held out a hand and slowed everyone down. "Lets put a little more distance between us and them" Jo and Caroline kept a close eye on Riddick and Johns.

* * *

Riddick had put himself ahead of everyone; he needed to figure out a way across the canyon. Then Johns sidled up to him "Not everyone's gonna make it."

"You just now figured that out"

"Just seven of us left; if we could make it through the canyon and only lose a couple it'd be a hell of a feat wouldn't it"

"Not if one of thems me"

"What if you're one of five?"

"I'm listening"

"Battlefield doctors determine who lives and dies its called triage"

"Kept calling it murder when I did it"

"Still it's something I think you can catch onto"

"Sacrifice then; leave a body at the start of the canyon, like a bucket of bait"

"Trall with it, we've got extra cable on the back of the sled, drag it about 40 or 50 feet behind us"

"Nice embellishment"

"Well I don't want to feed em' just want to keep em off our scent"

"Well who'd you have in mind?"

* * *

Jo saw Riddick turn back to the group then Johns nudge him forward again, she knew that couldn't be a good thing. She looked over at Caroline "Hey something bad is about to happen, when it does we need to get out of the way"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, you've got to trust me on this"

* * *

"I say we take the two girls out, the little one and the stripper"

Riddick cracked his neck a little but tried to remain calm "Really why them?"

"Girls already a target and the con, well I don't have much use for her. She tried to bribe me with a tempting offer but she ain't that pretty and would you want to drag a woman around with you, let's be honest"

_I'd drag that woman through hell and back if it meant keeping her safe_.

"So let's just do this you kill the girls and I'll keep the other off your back. That's not a problem with you is it?"

"I don't know I was just thinking we needed a bigger piece of bait"

"Like who"

For a second they stared at each other, and then Riddick knocked the flare from John's hands and grabbed at his shotgun.

* * *

Jo saw them pause an then the destruction started; she dropped her rope to the sled and grabbed Jacks hand and pulled her away. Caroline yelled for everyone to leave the sled and run, just as they jumped behind some spires shots rang out. Jo forced everyone to the ground and looked over the dune at the fight going on. Riddick pulled off his lights and laid them on the ground, they were circling around each other then Riddick pulled out his shiv, he and Johns wrestled some more, Johns getting hold of the shiv but it didn't last long suddenly Riddick cut Johns on the back. Then the flare had burnt out and Jo couldn't see Riddick at all as he had faded into the darkness. She assumed Johns would be dead soon, but then she heard shots ring out obviously he'd gotten hold of his shotgun again. She tried to climb up the hill to make sure Riddick was still alive but someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her along everyone got up and started running again, back towards the ship. Jo wanted to look for Riddick, she needed him to be alive; she couldn't imagine losing him out here in the dark. She kept looking all around hoping to see a glimpse of him. Her panic grew she wanted Riddick, she was done with the charades, she wanted to be with him to know he was safe. She couldn't go on, she sank down in the dirt.

Suddenly Caroline screamed, Jo turned around and saw that she had run into Riddick. Jo jumped out of the dirt and threw herself at him; she didn't care about the surprised looks of the rest of the group. She needed to assure herself it was real and that he was alive.

* * *

Riddick accepted Jo's hug gratefully and wrapped her up in his arms without Johns he didn't have to worry about her going to a slam, all he had to do was get them off this rock. He held her close, and nuzzled against her neck. "I'm here" he whispered. "I'll always be here" They stood that way for awhile, then he let her go tipped her chin up and walked into the rest of the group. "You guys going back; huddling in the cargo hold til you can't see what's eating you. That the grand plan?"

Imam stammered first "Do you… do you two know each other?"

"No Imam, I just take to pretty girls" with that Riddick walked off going back to retrieve the power cells.

Caroline looked back at Jo giving her an accusing stare. Jo squared her shoulders and faced everyone "Yea we know each other, we grew up together. I got him out of prison the first time." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I killed three mercs who raped my best friend, they happened to be working for Johns so I got thrown in jail and he "volunteered" to take me to a higher security slam, hoping to make a few bucks off me. It was a coincidence that he was also transporting Riddick."

"Have you two been working together this whole time" Caroline spat at her

"You mean getting off this fucking planet!? Yea and you're still alive aren't you, so you better be fucking grateful. The fact that I know Riddick changes nothing, the plan was and always will be to get everyone off this rock, the only thing that's changed is that John's isn't around to stab us in the back."

Imam stepped towards her "Is he a good man?"

"No, he was once but the world has done everything to make sure he was forced to do everything he had to to survive. I can't give you his assurance that he won't leave you behind but I can give you mine. I will do everything in my power to get you all off this rock"

Imam nodded his head and took Jo's hand and gave it a little squeeze, it lessened her fear immensely and she was extremely appreciative of the holy man. Jo walked over to Jack who was still stunned in silence.

"Do you trust me kid?"

Jack finally smiled "Abso-fucking-lutely"

"Good, watch your mouth. Caroline?"

Caroline was silent for a moment then she straightened up and held out her hand, Jo took it and shook.

Riddick went off by himself and was looking at some bones of one of the creatures he held up what looked like eye-stalks and noticed the creatures had a blind spot.

"Shall we pray together? I have already prayed with the others, it is painless"

"It's pointless"

"Because you do not believe in God does not mean God does not believe in…"

"You think someone can live half their life in a slam, horsebit in their mouth and not believe. Think he can start out in some liquor store trash bin with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and not believe. You got it all wrong holy man, I absolutely believe in God and I absolutely hate the motherfucker."

"He is with us none the less"

"You've already lost two of your boys holy man, how much faith do you have left"

"The woman, Jo, says you were once a good man"

"Maybe in her eyes, but I never was"

"All the same she believes in you with her heart you can see it in her eyes. She does not seem to be a fool; I hope her faith in you is not misplaced. A young girl's heart is not to be trifled with"

Riddick rounded on the holy man "There is only one person in this universe other than myself who I'd stick my neck out for and that's her. Do not underestimate me holy man, she may try to save you all but if it comes down to it I will carry her out screaming and leave the rest of you here to die. So I suggest you keep up"

With that he stood and pulled the power cells behind him, the rest of the group joined them and everyone headed to the canyon.

Everyone paused at the entrance to the canyon with their torches held up; there were hundreds of creatures overhead. Riddick planned to pull the powercells himself, Jo hoped he could keep up she looked back; he grabbed the rope to the power cells, and yelled move. Everyone started running forward, trying to keep the light above them to stop any of the monsters from swooping down. Wet, blue, slime began falling on them from above Riddick yelled to not look up but Jo couldn't help herself, she saw the creatures above her tearing into each other, whether to feed or to try and stop the group from continuing forward she wasn't sure but the sight was gruesome, Riddick shoved into her from behind forcing her forward again. Suddenly they came to a pile of bones blocking the path.

"Keep moving, keep moving" Riddick ran past everyone and started crawling under the bones. Everybody followed his lead and began moving forward, the last one through was the last of Imam's protégés but he wasn't quick enough. One of the creatures had only been playing dead and grabbed him by the foot, dragging him into the night. Imam tried to crawl after him but Jo grabbed his back and kept him in the light. He was shouting and muttering in Arabic. She turned around and saw Jack shouting after Riddick; he was already at the top of the hill with the power cells. Jack didn't have a torch with her. Jo watched in horror as a creature swooped down, she screamed at Jack who quickly dodged under a pile of bones. The creature hammered away at the bones trying to get at Jack. Jo quickly jumped up and she and Caroline and Imam ran at the creature trying to use the light to scare it off but it was determined to get at Jack. All of a sudden Riddick dropped the power cells and ran, yelling, down the hill. The creature charged at Riddick who grabbed his claws before they could sink into him. He wrestled with it back and forth, until he managed to get his shiv out and cut the creatures intestines out. It fell to the side dead.

"It did not know who it was fucking with"

Jo smiled at Riddick, but quickly began to frown again as raindrops started hitting her cheeks. Soon there was a full on rainstorm on them and they couldn't keep the torches lit.


	11. Chapter 11

Here ya go lovelies, thanks to everyone for sticking with this story. Review if you like it.

* * *

Riddick started laughing; perfect this was just what he needed. "Where's your god now holy man" He ushered the group over to a small cave in the side of the canyon, he pushed everyone inside til Jo was left then he grabbed her by the belt and pulled her back. Then he pushed a large rock in front of the hole.

"Cmon I'll need your help"

Jo looked at Riddick then back at the cave; she got close to the rock and yelled inside. "We'll be back we're gonna get more light. Okay I promise we'll be back for you" She started running behind Riddick making sure to stay in the light of the belt he had still around his back. Soon they reached the skiff, Riddick began pulling the cores inside and hooking them up. Jo started pulling out drawers in the dark looking for any flashlights or anything else to give off some light. Suddenly there was light all around her as they ship came to life, she hollered and started jumping up and down.

"YES. FUCK YES! Ok now help me find some flashlights, there's got to be some in here." She threw things out into the middle of the floor, finally she found a couple of flashlights and a lantern. She was down on her hands and knees checking to make sure each worked.

Riddick watched as Jo rushed around the cabin looking for any lights, but he didn't help. He saw as she pulled out some lanterns and checked them. He just sighed and walked over to the bay doors and hit 'close'.

Jo heard the soft hum of hydraulics behind her and turned to see the bay door closing, she Riddicks hand on the control and in the blink of an eye she knew what he planned to do. She would not let that happen. "No NO! Riddick!" She rushed to the control panel trying to reach for the 'open' button but Riddick grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him and backed away from the door. She wriggled and kicked in his arms but he was so much stronger.

"Jo stop, just stop. We can't go back"

"Yes we can, we can and we are. Let me go!" She pushed at his arms again then kicked at his legs; finally she managed to elbow him in the eye which loosened his grip slightly. He still had her wrist but she pulled away enough to open the doors again. "Let. Me. GO!" He tried to grab both her wrists but she continued to hit him and pull away. Finally when the door was partially open she leapt for it and started dragging herself through with Riddick pulling at her ankles. "I'm going back for them. I will not leave them here. Let me go. Goddamn you let me go. I won't leave. I won't leave!" She kept yelling at him.

She was putting up a fight Riddick didn't think she had in her. Finally when the door was completely open again, Riddick released her legs and let her crawl back out into the rain. She stood up and squared off against him.

"Give me the light Riddick."

"I'm not going back"

"FUCKING FINE. Give it too me I'll go alone"

"I'm not going to hang around here, so you either come with me or you will die out here" He started walking down the ramp to her, til they were nose to nose. He hoped she wouldn't call his bluff; he would never leave here without her.

"GO THEN! I won't leave them here. So just give me the light and fucking run away!" She shoved him as hard as she could. He pushed her back so she lunged at him, knocking him off-balance and turning and pulling him out into the rain with her, but even with him going easy on her he still overpowered her, throwing her down underneath him in the mud. Rain pelted her face and made it difficult to breathe and she could barely open her eyes. Then Riddick's face hovered above her own his breath was coming out ragged and she could tell he was just barely containing his fury.

"You would die for them?"

"Yes Riddick, YES I would. I WILL DIE FOR THEM."

"And if I won't let you?"

"I HAVE to help them why won't you let…"

"No if I won't let you risk your own life?"

"It's my life Riddick. Why do you care?" She spat at him.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU"

Jo's eyes opened wide; Riddick used one hand to jerk off his goggles and he locked eyes with her. She could see the sincerity and the fear he was feeling, not for himself but for her. Hesitantly she put her hand up to his cheek and caressed it, and for a moment time stopped and his eyes were no longer a silver shine but they were the chocolate brown ones she had fallen in love with when they were kids. She pulled his face down and gave him a chaste kiss, then laid his forehead against hers.

"I love you too" She whispered. She started crying and looked into Riddick's eyes begging him. "Please help me. I can't leave them here"

Riddick sighed, he knew she was right. It could be suicide to go back, but he knew that she'd never forgive him if they didn't try. So he kissed her fiercely and then pulled her to her feet. They grabbed as many flashlights as they could and headed back into the canyon.

* * *

Alright there you go.


End file.
